Many types of materials can be used to create electro-optic devices, which in general comprise chemical species having highly polarizable electrons. When an electric field is applied to these electro-optic materials, alteration in the electron polarization changes properties of the material, including, for example, changes in the index of refraction and velocity of light passing through the electro-optic material.
As part of the process for preparing the electro-optic materials for use in actual devices, a uniform electron polarization direction in the absence of an applied electromagnetic field must first be established by poling. In an electro-optic system comprising an electrically active material such as a chromophore (guest) fixed within a polymer (host), such uniform electron polarization alignment may gradually be lost over time due to a variety of relaxation processes attributed to the thermoplastic matrix. The rate at which such relaxation processes occur is typically temperature-dependent. For many such chromophore/polymer (guest/host) electro-optic systems, even a modest increase over room temperature can cause sufficient relaxation to eliminate desired uniformity in the polarization of the guest chromophore molecule.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for polymer based electro-optic systems which retain the uniform electron polarization resulting from poling to as high a temperature as possible.